Do you struggle to connect with the Lord? Do you strive to be intimate with Him without success? Do you ever feel dead, dry, and disconnected? And then, you are pummeled with doubt and condemnation because intimacy with Christ seems like a pipe dream.
I have and still do from time to time. But I am learning something revolutionary. These are just feelings. When I feel dead, dry, and disconnected, it’s a clear indication I’m living from my soul rather than my spirit. When I feel a million miles away, it doesn’t mean I am a million miles away.
If you ever feel this way, don’t feel discouraged. These feelings mean your soul is presently leading your life rather than your spirit. These feelings are like your car’s dashboard. They indicate what’s happening with the things you can’t see, such as the condition of your engine and whether you need more gas.
Your feelings are like a dashboard that indicate your life source—whether you are living from your self-life in your soul or Christ’s indwelling life in your spirit.
You may feel dead and dry. But the truth is your spirit is a pipeline to Christ’s uncreated, indestructible life.
Whenever we say things like, “I feel a million miles from the Lord” or “I feel dead and dry,” we are basically saying, “My soul presently has dominion over my spirit. My feelings are trumping the truth of my spiritual union with Christ.”
Whether or not you feel connected to Christ, the truth remains: You are one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). Stop allowing your soulical emotions to muddy the clear water of truth—your spirit is fastened together with the Spirt of Christ.
Let these feelings lead you to renew your mind. Let these feelings be erased by meditating on the good things within you because of Christ. When you do this, you will shift from the soul to the spirit.
One Spirit with Christ
Since I’m an avid coffee drinker, I always bring a package of Starbucks Via Instant Coffee whenever we travel to Africa on mission trips. I normally don’t care for Starbucks, but you never know where you might be staying. So, Via is a safe bet for decent coffee when your options are limited. I also bring Coffee mate creamer just in case I can’t drink the milk or half-and-half.
Making a cup of Via reminds me of my spiritual union with Christ. I take four separate ingredients—boiling water, Via, Coffee mate, and sugar—and mix these together in my cup. After stirring, you can’t separate the four individual ingredients because they are now one.
This is like your spiritual union with Christ. Your spirit and the Spirit of Jesus Christ are joined together as one. Your spirit can’t be separated from Christ’s Spirit.
As I continue detailing the nine truths of your born-again spirit, I am discussing the sixth truth today. Your spirit is one with the indwelling Spirit of Christ.
If you missed the two previous articles, you can read about truths 1-3 and truths 4-5 at a later time.
Glued to Christ
Paul said, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17). The word joins means to glue. If you look at the previous verse, Paul quoted the most famous marriage Scripture in the Bible—Genesis 2:24. Paul also quoted this verse in Ephesians 5:31, stating, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). The word joined in this passage also means to glue.
Marriage glues a man and a woman together for life. New birth also glues our spirit to the Spirit of Christ. Like a husband and wife are joined together in marriage, we are joined to Christ when we were born again.
Imagine two separate pieces of construction paper. One of the pieces has a liberal amount of glue smothered on every square inch. When the two pieces are glued together, you can’t separate them without tearing both pieces. This is what marriage is like when a man and a woman are glued together. This is also what it looks like when your spirit and the indwelling Spirit of Christ are glued together at new birth. The two can’t be separated.
Think about the implications of this for a minute. Your spirit is literally joined together with the Spirit of Christ. The same Spirit who created the universe at God’s command. The same Spirit who impregnated the virgin Mary. The same Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
Your spirit and the indwelling Spirit of Christ are glued together, cemented and fastened together as one. Just as a husband and wife leave their father and mother and cleave to each other in an inseparable bond, you have left your former life and are now cleaving to Christ inwardly.
I don’t know about you, but this is incredible news! This is the gospel. You and the indwelling Spirit of Christ are already one. This has to be why Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7, emphasis mine).
You Are Already One with Him
In Romans 7:1-6, Paul used the analogy of a husband and wife to illustrate our death to the Law and our spiritual union with Christ. Paul said the Law has jurisdiction over the woman until her husband dies. But after his death, Paul wrote, the woman is free to be joined in marriage to another man without committing adultery. He summarized his main point in verse 4: “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
You died to the Law through the body of Christ and are now “joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead.” The NKJV translates this as “that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead.” We are not married to Christ yet, for that awaits the future Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). But our spiritual union with Him is similar to the joining of a husband to his wife.
What does this mean for you? It means you no longer have to struggle and strive to experience deep intimacy and communion with Christ. You no longer have to go through dry spells where you feel disconnected from Him. You no longer have to feel a million miles away from Him.
Don’t let your feelings dictate your relationship with the indwelling Christ. All you need to do is remember the truth. You are already one with Him. Don’t have spiritual amnesia and forget the finished work of your union with Christ. Meditate on the truth of your spirit glued together with the Spirit of Christ often.
You are not a million miles away from Him. You are one spirit with Him. You already have a pipeline to His life. Live from this reality every day and stop allowing your feelings to rule over you.
